Q&A
New waiver process for families who missed the June 1st deadline
2:54:05
ยท
162 sec
Council Member Rita Joseph questions the DOE about the new waiver process implemented for families who missed the June 1st deadline. The DOE explains the waiver's conditions and limitations.
- The waiver is voluntary but includes language preventing families from filing cases with enhanced rate equitable services
- DOE cannot commit to giving families a chance to apply for services without waivers or conditions
- The waiver process is a response to continued litigation in this area
UNKNOWN
2:54:05
That is correct, chair.
2:54:06
The waiver, is voluntary.
2:54:08
Families were not compelled to sign the waiver.
2:54:13
But, yes, that was included as language in the waiver.
Rita Joseph
2:54:17
Okay.
2:54:17
I hope he's listening.
2:54:18
If a child receives services last year, why should they require to pay out of pocket this year for missing arbitrarily enforced deadlines?
Liz Vladeck
2:54:27
Thank you, chair.
2:54:28
So this goes back to the discussion earlier about our obligations under the IDEA IDEA versus state law.
2:54:33
The existence of the June 1st deadline is really the only step that the state took to recognize, the, the burden the financial burden it creates it created on the district when they expanded, the the breadth of rights of of students in private and parochial schools.
2:54:52
So as I mentioned earlier, we need that information.
2:54:55
We need to know when students are continuing on because we have to be able to plan and budget for those programs for the following year.
2:55:02
I understand that some individual families, the circumstances don't change much year to year, but I think the fact that there are so many more students listed as having IESPs in our databases than we've actually heard from this year demonstrates the value of checking with families each year.
2:55:18
I also just do wanna mention the state has previously held, counties financially responsible for failing to implement required notice deadlines for the provision of other services.
2:55:31
So we've been I think we we should have been more consistent all along, but that's where we are.
Rita Joseph
2:55:39
He also now wants to ask, will DOE commit to giving these families a fair chance to apply for services without any waivers or conditions?
Liz Vladeck
2:55:48
To the extent that's referring to services for the part of the year before we were able to provide vouchers, no.
2:55:54
We cannot.
2:55:55
And it's why we've left the path the path is always open for a family who believes they have a legal right to compensation for anything out of pocket to file a due process claim.
2:56:05
However, it is black letter law that failing to miss, failing to meet the June 1st deadline sort of nullifies the legally mandated entitlement to those services in the coming school year.
Rita Joseph
2:56:20
He's also, many of his constituents never receive any notification at all about the deadline given a lack of internet access and change in residential addresses.
2:56:29
Additionally, even families who did receive the notification were often unable to respond given challenging digital signature requirements.
2:56:37
What efforts did New York City Public Schools make to ensure families were notified?
2:56:41
Did you notify elected officials, community stakeholders about this decision so we could communicate to our constituents?